Gender-based disparities in access to and outcomes of liver transplantation

Abstract

Despite comprising 35% of transplants, the number of female transplant recipients has continued to decline. Accordingly, there is a growing attention to the issue of access to and outcomes of liver transplantation in women. The purpose of this review is to critically evaluate the published literature on etiologies contributing to gender-based disparities in liver transplantation focusing on the steps from chronic liver disease through transplantation including disparities in liver disease prevalence, access to liver transplant centers and transplant waiting list, receipt of liver transplantation once listed and disparities in post-liver transplantation outcomes. Our review finds factors contributing to this disparity may include gender differences in the etiology of underlying liver disease and patient and physician referral patterns, lifestyle and health care, but also utilization of an imperfect organ allocation system based on the model for end stage liver disease score and donor-recipient liver size matching. The review also highlights the need for further research in the area of gender disparity in order to develop appropriate approaches to address it and to improve allocation of this precious resource in the future.